For My Skoal Brothers

Given my fealty for public health, I really shouldn't be posting a smokeless tobacco commercial. But for this awesome spot starring legendary UT/Houston Oilers running back Earl Campbell, I'm going to have to make an exception.



Maybe the Oilers never managed to beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship, but Earl's endorsement of Skoal has it all over Terry Bradshaw's commercial for Red Man.

Fave Five Food Deals - 6/2/10

Due to some out-of-town business to help keep the lights on, we were unable to post this week's best grocery deals just after midnight as we normally do.

Rest assured that this late edition of "Fave Five Food Deals" is an anomaly. With that mea culpa under the bridge, on with the deals.

1. Broccoli crowns, .77/lb. at H-E-B (through 6/8/10)

2. Organic Romaine lettuce, .77/ea. at Sun Harvest (through 6/9/10)

3. Strawberries, $2/lb. at Central Market (through 6/8/10)

4. Yellow corn, 5 for $1 at Fiesta (through 6/8/10)

5. Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice, 89 oz., $2.99 at Randall's (through 6/8/10)*

*Sale price with Remarkable Card

Also, in case anyone is wondering, Beetsolonely and "Fave Five Food Deals" are in no way, shape or form associated with the California-based male encounter group Dave Dive Dudefeels, LLC.

Mexico Has Moved Juárez

According to Fox News, Mexico has moved Juárez and its 2.4 million inhabitants from just across the Rio Grande from El Paso to a remote spot about 50 miles west of Nuevo Laredo near the Coahuila/Nuevo Leon border. They also moved the city name's accent mark from "a" to "e" so we wouldn't have to think about it so early in the alphabet. I feel safer already.

Fave Five Food Deals - 5/26/10

Despite being a bit tied up at the ol' day job this week, delivering Austin's five best grocery deals remains an essential function for this here blog.

1. Blue Bell Ice Cream (half gallon/all rims), $2.99 at Fiesta* (through 6/1/10)

2. Pork sirloin chops (family pack), .77 at Fiesta* (through 6/1/10)

3. Texas-grown bi-color corn on the cob, 8 for $2 at Whole Foods Market (through 6/2/10)

4. Peaches, .67/lb. at H-E-B (through 6/1/10)

5. Freshly squeezed lemonade (half gallon), $1.99 at Central Market (through 6/1/10)

*Limit 2 with $10 or more additional purchase.

Fave Five Food Deals - 5/19/10

Welcome back to another exciting edition of Fave Five Food Deals. Let's get ready to save some money at Austin area grocery stores, shall we?

1. Strawberries, $1.27/lb. at H-E-B (through 5/25/10)

2. Wild-caught Mahi Mahi filets, $3.88/lb. at Newflower (through 5/26/10)

3. Mexican avocados, 7 for $1 at El Rancho Supermercado (through 5/25/10)

4. Argentinean Packham pears, .99/lb. at Central Market (through 5/25/10)

5. Russet potatoes, 10 lb. bag, $1.77 at H-E-B (through 5/25/10)

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't note that H-E-B has an in-store coupon this week that gets you a free quart of Creamy Creations Ice Cream if you buy specially designated blister packs of Energizer Max batteries. I'm not sure how we're supposed to make the intellectual leap from batteries to ice cream unless some sort of deviant sexual practice is involved.

El Rancho Opens in Austin

The first Austin location of Dallas-based El Rancho Supermercado opened at the corner of 183 and Ohlen a few weeks back. I’ve been meaning to go over there since it’s now the closest market to our house and the first one within easy walking distance since Albertson’s shut down in 2006. I finally made it over for a quick look-see yesterday.

The first thing you see when you walk into El Rancho is a giant wedding cake with a water feature. They have a full-service panaderia with a colorful assortment of pan dulce, polvorones, bollilos and the like. I didn’t buy anything, but I’ll be interested to taste how they stack up against Panaderia Chuy in the same shopping center. El Rancho sells inexpensive homemade tortillas and whole roasted chickens for $6.99, but the latter would have to be pretty amazing to lure me away from El Pollo Regio across the street. A neighborhood pollo throwdown is imminent.

El Rancho’s produce appears middling, but they’re selling four pounds of Roma tomatoes for $1 this week. They had some good deals on marinated fajita meat and you could get four cans of La Sierra charro beans for just $3. They also have an extensive array of Mexican-made salsas and more Goya product than I knew existed.

Overall, El Rancho reminds me of a smaller, more Mexican version of Fiesta. Unlike Fiesta, I wouldn’t characterize El Rancho as a true full-service supermarket. You can buy sundry items there, but the selection is poor and the prices aren’t competitive. Even so, Fiesta is definitely taking notice of El Rancho’s presence. We’ve started receiving Fiesta’s circulars in the mail along with a coupon for $10 off a $35 purchase.

Stay Away from Canon Printers

Just two months out of warranty and our Consumer Reports-recommended Canon Pixma MX700 printer has gone shithouse with a terminal error code no one at tech support understands because I (gasp) replaced the ink cartridges.

So now I have a year-old dead printer and a bunch of overpriced, brand new ink I can't use. I don't know how much it would cost to have it repaired, but if it's any more than a quarter of what it would cost me to buy a new printer, I'll be getting out the ax and giving this defective piece of crap the Office Space treatment.

If you or your friends are in the market for a new printer, stay the hell away from these!

Fave Five Food Deals - 5/12/10

From our family to yours, here's another round of Austin's best grocery deals (cue syrupy "Fave Five Food Deals" jingle sung to the tune of that horrible John William Interiors spot).

1. Organic Beef Blowout at Sprouts - their language, not mine - 40% all organic beef cuts at Sprouts (through 5/19/10)

2. Natural* boneless skinless chicken breasts, $1.88/lb. at Newflower (through 5/19/10)

3. 2 lb. bag of Michigan Ida Red apples, .99 at H-E-B (through 5/18/10)

4. Green beans, Bell peppers (red, yellow or orange) and zucchini squash, .88/lb. at Sprouts (through 5/19/10)

5. Seven varieties of apples, broccoli crowns, baby peeled carrots and grape tomatoes**, .99/lb at Sun Harvest (through 5/19/10)

If you're willing to splurge a little, Whole Foods has a good deal this week on Texas-grown organic green beans for $1.99/lb. That would've made the Fave Five most any other week, but not this one.

*No enhancers or chemicals added.
**Grape tomatoes are sold by the pint, but close enough.

The 1970 Lubbock Tornado

Today is the 40th anniversary of the 1970 Lubbock tornado. I was born in Lubbock in 1968, but our family moved to Dallas a few months before this storm.

In addition to killing some 28 people, the Lubbock tornado was notorious for slamming into the 20-story Great Plains Life Building and causing a permanent 12-inch deformation in its steel frame. Three of four elevator support rails were bent and approximately 60 percent of the windows were blown out.

While many predicted the building would collapse in the days after the storm, civil engineers from Texas Tech said it could be repaired and didn't need to be torn down. A series of out-of-town owners let the building sit vacant for years, attracting pigeons and occasionally shedding bricks onto downtown streets. The building was auctioned off to Amarillo investors Rufus and Kenneth Gaut in 1974 for the princely sum of $115,000 in back taxes.

The building reopened to tenants a year later and the now-renamed Metro Life tower still stands today as the tallest building in Lubbock.

For a dated-but-interesting look at Lubbock's emergency response to the 1970 tornado, check out Twister!, a 26-minute educational film that was produced by the federal Defense Civil Preparedness Agency (FEMA's precursor). You can view it online at the Texas Archive of the Moving Image's ever-growing video library.

1970 photo from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Mother's Day at the Capitol

Kate, Alex and I celebrated Mother's Day yesterday with an altogether pleasant afternoon jaunt downtown.

At two and a half months, Alex's demonstrative repertoire has progressed well beyond crying and sleeping. We're having lots of fun responding to his proto-babble as though he was a Sunday talk show pundit. He still doesn't like car rides all that much, but Kate's friend Jen loaned us a terrycloth cover for the car seat, which seemed to make him more comfortable on the ride down Mopac.

We - well, Kate and I - ate at Little City and traipsed around the Capitol grounds. It was Alex's first excursion to the Capitol and he showed his displeasure for Texas politics by filling a diaper, forcing his mother and I to expose his bits in the shadow of the Pink Dome.

This is Only a Test

When I was growing up, long before I understood the threat of nuclear holocaust, I was profoundly disturbed any time a broadcaster in my area conducted a test of the Emergency Broadcast System.

Having a mellow afternoon of Al Brodax-era Popeye cartoons callously interrupted by that godawful attention signal was pure nightmare fodder to my young mind. Even though the Emergency Broadcast System was replaced in 1997 by the Emergency Alert System - which has its own equally annoying attention signal - I still occasionally have nuclear war dreams in which EBS figures prominently.

When I was a college radio DJ at UT, I always hoped I'd one day get to conduct an EBS test myself as a symbolic triumph over childhood fear. Sadly, KTSB was only "broadcasting" on cable radio back then, so we didn't commit the time, training and expenses to do EBS tests. By the time the station took to the airwaves as KVRX, I'd long since graduated.

Occasionally, you'd hear a local EBS activation for a tornado warning or something like that, but the system was never activated for a national emergency. Except once. Sort of.

At 9:33 a.m. EST on Saturday, February 20, 1971, the EBS was accidentally activated because of an erroneous message from the National Warning Facility at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado. Interestingly, very few stations did what they were supposed to do if it had been an actual emergency. Many stations didn't get the activation messages and the vast majority of those that did ignored it. A contemporary Austin American-Statesman story about the goof reported that KVET didn't do an EBS activation because it occurred at approximately the same time as a regular weekly test of the system. Although the National Warning Facility sent a cancellation message at 9:59 a.m., that message didn't use the proper authentication code. A cancellation message with the correct code didn't go out until 10:13 a.m.

I've read several print accounts of this false alarm, but I've always wondered what it would've sounded like if I'd been listening to one of the stations that actually announced the false EBS activation back in 1971. Fortunately, an astute radiohead named Jim Cassell has preserved a recording of WOWO's broadcast out of Fort Wayne, Ind. from that morning. You can hear it - with the attention signal presumably (and mercifully) edited out - right here.

Although announcer Bob Sievers is very professional and careful not to unduly alarm the public, hearing this would've scared the oatmeal out of me. Needless to say, this would've been a much bigger deal had it occurred in the middle of a weekday instead of on Saturday morning. And the worst part of it is that the last record you would've heard before the missiles struck was "Doesn't Somebody Want to be Wanted" by the Partridge Family.

Fave Five Food Deals - 5/5/10

On the fifth day of the fifth month, we give you Austin's five best grocery deals.

1. Whole seedless watermelons, .99/ea. at Newflower (through 5/12/10)

2. All natural* pork sirloin roasts and chops or chicken tenders, 1.97/lb. at Sprouts (through 5/12/10)

3. Red, orange or yellow tomatoes on the vine, $1.99/lb. at Central Market (through 5/11/10)

4. Corn on the cob, 5 for $1 at Sprouts (through 5/12/10)

5. Blue Bell Ice Cream, half gallon, $3.99 ea. at Sun Harvest (5/12/10)

*Pork is tested for antibiotics and hormone-free; chicken has no hormones, enhancers or solutions added.

Continental to Become United

With today's announcement that Continental Airlines and United Airlines plan to merge into the world's largest airline in a $3 billion stock-swap deal, the once-golden Continental brand will become history and Houston will lose its hometown airline.

I'm surprised Continental wants to become United. While none of the U.S. legacy carriers have a particularly good reputation, Continental's is the best of a lousy lot. On the other hand, United is a more established quantity in Asia and the Pacific.

Continental/United will likely close its Cleveland hub because it will be redundant so close to United's hub at Chicago O'Hare. Although United's hub at Washington Dulles is cumbersome and not far from Continental's hub at Newark, I imagine it will remain a hub in some form. United just started a new flight from Dulles to Bahrain last month and service to Accra, Ghana begins in June.

As for Houston, the former Continental will shed front-office jobs and the city will lose prestige of being home base for an airline, but Continental/United's hub at Intercontinental will continue to thrive. One area where the combined airline will continue to be weak is the Southeastern U.S. since United shut down its Miami hub in 2004.

So why is Continental/United moving its headquarters from the Sunbelt? Maybe the Windy City's $35 million tax incentive financing package to get United to move into the 110-story What You Talkin' 'Bout Willis Tower has something to do with it. Houston may be better off in the long run for not having decimated its tax base by trying to match such a generous exercise in corporate welfare.

And by the way, the new logo sucks contrails.

Poteet Strawberry Ice Cream is Here!

Big news in the world of store-bought ice cream. I finally spied and captured a quart-size carton of H-E-B Creamy Creations Poteet Strawberry Ice Cream at the H-E-B on Braker Ln. at 183 earlier this evening.

This is the first time I've seen it this season. My only regret is that my two and one-half month-old son cannot partake yet.

Just $2.78 and I'm well on my way to quashing the oncoming Monday trainwreck blues with home-grown strawberry bliss. Better get yours now before I eat it all.

Lala Shutting Down May 31

Great gripes! Less than one week after I finally got around to posting a Lala playlist, Lala has announced they’re shutting down on May 31.

Apple bought Lala for $80 million back in Decmeber. Current users of the 4-year-old online music service will have their balances converted to credit for the iTunes store, which is sort of like having your In-N-Out Double Double morph into a half-eaten Big Mac.

Lala’s clean interface was the closest legal thing to having a record store listening booth at your fingertips. I’m a big fan of streaming before purchasing. Lala let you stream a full album once for free, then charged you about 10 cents per song if you wanted unlimited online listening rights. I’m sure that model gives the music industry pause because it keeps people from buying new releases on speculation.

Gil Scott-Heron’s latest is a perfect example. It’s a good album, worthy of acclaim and definitely worth hearing, but if I ever listen to it again, it probably won’t be for several years. There’s nothing wrong with such albums, but I don’t need them taking up disk space or cloud space, let alone physical space in my increasingly cramped home.

When Apple purchased Lala, some speculated the Cupertino brass were going to build their own subscription music service. If such a service worked anything like iTunes, though, I'm one Mac user who would go out of my way to avoid it.

Fave Five Food Deals - 4/28/10

Some folks celebrate May Day. Others celebrate Cinco de Mayo. But a good deal on corn is something we can all rally around.

To that end, here are this week's best Austin area grocery deals.

1. White corn, 6 ears for $1 at Newflower (through May 5)

2. Green beans, .98/lb. at Sun Harvest (through May 5)

3. Sanderson Farms whole chickens, .88/lb. at H-E-B (through May 4)

4. Hass avocados, 3 for $1 at Sprouts (through May 5)

5. Small Texas grapefruit, 10 for $1 at H-E-B (through May 4)

With the start of corn season, ears are on sale all over town. Sun Harvest is selling it for 25 cents an ear and Randall's is selling four ears for 88 cents, but as usual, you have to have a Remarkable card and that price is only good May 1-2.

Also, if Jamie Oliver hasn't completely soured you on enjoying frozen pizza and nacho cheese-flavored Doritos, check out H-E-B's "Texas Showdown" promo this weekend. To promote their store brands, H-E-B is giving them away. Buy specified sizes of DiGiorno Pizza and get an in-store coupon for a free H-E-B Classic Selections Pizza. Or buy specified sizes of Doritos and get an in-store coupon for a free bag of H-E-B flavored tortilla chips.

But remember, kids, frozen pizza and Doritos are "sometimes" foods.

Over the Edge

Last September, Vice published an excellent oral history of Over the Edge, the awesome 1979 suburban teen rebellion film that launched Matt Dillon’s career.

Like many recovering teens my age, I stumbled onto Over the Edge via repeated airings on cable. It was quite a heady rush to see junior high school-aged kids portraying junior high school-aged kids setting police cars on fire while I myself was a junior high school-aged kid.

I don’t think it’s hyperbole for Harry Northrup, the actor who portrayed the much-reviled Sgt. Doberman, to hold Over the Edge in the same esteem as Rebel Without a Cause. Anyone who grew up on reruns will have a hard time watching the latter without likening Jim Backus’ portrayal of James Dean’s dad to Thurston Howell III, or worse, Mr. Magoo.


Although I wasn't much of an adolescent troublemaker, kids who looked and sounded like the kids in Over the Edge were ubiquitous when I was growing up. Maybe you'd go over to their houses when their parents weren't home to blast album-oriented rock music, take a few furtive belts from the liquor cabinet or pass a handgun around the room.

Looking back, I think most of these failed afterschool special auditions arose from boredom rather than delinquency. While Over the Edge took that notion to an exploitative extreme, no other movie does a better job of capturing the overall aesthetic of the late 70s/early 80s suburban latchkey kid generation.

Incidentally, I did a phone interview with Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson about 10 years ago and brought up the opening sequence of Over the Edge in which Cheap Trick's version of Terry Reid's "Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace" sets the film's desolate, sneering tone. I was surprised when Petersson said he'd never seen it.

The Springing Sounds of Beetsolonely

I just spent entirely too much time crafting the first - and hopefully not the last - Lala playlist for this here blog. I plan to toss up a new one every quarter or so, but we'll see about that.

In the meantime, crank up the widget to your right and find out what happens when Black Randy & the Metrosquad, Bobby Patterson, Funkadelic, Fastway, Titus Andronicus and Tom Rush get shoehorned into the same elevator.

Drunk Girls

Check out Spike Jonze' ridiculous video for the new-ish LCD Soundsystem single, "Drunk Girls." It's no groundbreaker, but you will be entertained. LCD's new album, This is Happening, arrives May 17, but you can stream it now.

They Shuttered My Fuddruckers!

Yesterday afternoon, I saw a gaggle of men in ties just standing around in front of the Fuddruckers on Anderson Ln. Between their demographically incongruous clothing and the fact that lunch hour had long since passed, their presence struck me as vaguely suspicious.

Turns out my suspicions were well-placed, for that location of Fuddruckers shut down for good at the close of business yesterday after the Tavistock Group agreed to purchase the flagging chain from Magic Brands for $40 million. The 6607 N. IH 35 location also closed.

Not that I really care, since Fuddruckers lost me as a customer with their jingoistic “Freedom Fries” gambit back in 2003.

Fave Five Food Deals - 4/21/10

Straight from the headlines of your weekly supermarket mailers, here's another edition of Austin's best grocery buys.

1. 5 lb. bag of Russet potatoes, $1 at H-E-B (through 4/27/10)

2. 1 lb. of red seedless grapes, $1 at H-E-B (through 4/27/10)

3. Boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, $1.99/lb. at Sprouts (through 4/28/10)

4. Green leaf, red leaf or Romaine lettuce, .88/ea. at Sprouts (through 4/28/10)

5. Anjou pears, .98/lb. at H-E-B (through 4/27/10)

I Had a Wet Dream About the Girls from '90210'

Several months back, my drumming buddy Lance Farley digitized and posted some grotesque 1994 video footage of our old band, Noodle. So here we are, 16 years ago, playing our "hit" single, "I Had a Wet Dream About the Girls from 90210."


This aired live over Austin's cable TV airwaves on CapZeyeZ, Dave Prewitt's venerable public access show. Lance is on drums, Mark Fagan is playing bass, Jonathan Toubin is on guitar and I'm singing without a shirt on.

Was I acting out a wee bit? Perhaps, but looking back, there were issues I worked through in Noodle that otherwise would've taken years to tackle on a therapist's couch.

My only regret about this song is that we fell just short of having the opportunity to perform it in the presence of one of the actual girls from Beverly Hills, 90210. In July of 1994, we were offered a last-minute gig opening for Sincola at Antone's. Jennie Garth, who played Kelly Taylor, was in town filming a tawdry made-for-TV movie called Without Consent and she just so happened to turn up at that show.

Would we have had the gall to play this song with Garth in the audience? Sadly, we'll never know - we were already playing in El Paso that night.

Fave Five Food Deals - 4/14/10

If you're a fan of cheap beer and Brenham's best-loved export, this week's edition of Austin's best grocery deals is sure to warm the functioning part of your heart.

1. Blue Bell Ice Cream (all rims), $2.99* at Fiesta (through 4/20/10)

2. 12 packs (cans) of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Bud Ice, Natural Light or Miller High Life, $6/ea. at Fiesta (through 4/20/10)

3. Red seedless grapes or broccoli crowns, .88/lb. at Newflower (through 4/21/10)

4. Roma tomatoes, green beans or broccoli crowns, .88/lb. at Sprouts (through 4/21/10)

5. Extra large peeled and deveined raw shrimp, $4.97/lb. at Newflower (through 4/21/10)

*Limit two with $10 additional purchase, which you can easily cover with a couple of $6 12-packs.

Texas Stadium Imploded

Texas Stadium was returned to dust this morning in a Kraft Macaroni and Cheese-sponsored implosion for the ages. I didn't bother to watch it live on TV, but here's some pretty good footage of the implosion - and nothing but - that was shot from a nearby building.



I like the way the roof span in the left half of the frame just sort of hangs there for a few seconds before crashing down.

Houston's Variety Fair Closing

Variety Fair 5 & 10 has been selling this and that in Houston’s Rice Village since 1948. Growing up in the nearby bedroom enclaves of West University and Bellaire, I purchased a healthy chunk of my Topps football card collection from Variety Fair during the late 70s and early 80s. It seemed like founder Ben Klinger was always there working the mechanical cash register, which was old-fashioned even in 1978.

After 61 years, Variety Fair will close up shop in June. So if you happen to be near Houston anytime soon, make a pilgrimage to see one of the last authentic five-and-dime stores in America.

Video on Variety Fair closing from Houston Chronicle:

Fave Five Food Deals - 4/7/10

The berry wars heat up in this week's installment of Austin's best grocery deals.

1. 1 lb. strawberries or 5.6 oz. blackberries, .69 at Newflower (through 4/14/10)

2. Asparagus, .98/lb. at Sun Harvest (through 4/14/10)

3. Romaine, green leaf or red leaf lettuce, .77/ea. at Sprouts (through 4/14/10)

4. Red and green seedless grapes, .88/lb. at Sprouts (through 4/14/10)

5. Green beans, $1.48/lb. at H-E-B (through 4/13/10)

If you're heading to Sun Harvest at Anderson and Rockwood anytime soon, you'll notice they're now in the beginning stages of a renovation. Here's hoping this results in wider aisles and a more appetizing meat counter. Between the new Sprouts on Great Hills Trail and the forthcoming Walmart mothership at Northcross, Sun Harvest definitely needs to up their game.

Remembering Ron Turk

I found out last week that my old friend Ron Turk has passed away. The initial shock of this unexpected shard of news gradually gave way to sadness, longing and – most of all – profound appreciation for Ron’s friendship over the years.

Ron and I met 25 years ago in sophomore biology class at Bellaire High School. Even back then, Ron was a great conversationalist, which may explain why my biology grade went from A to C as we got to know each other better. I'm pretty sure he was the only person in class who thought it was hilarious when I stood up from my desk one day and turned out the classroom lights because I mistakenly thought I heard the teacher ask me to.

Ron was both smart and wise. While I was immersed in the obnoxious words and deeds of generalized adolescent rebellion and blanket disdain for convention, Ron was able to see beyond all that. He sought out the good in people and didn't allow himself to be constrained by social boundaries.

Our friendship continued when we both landed in Austin to attend UT. We had a couple of auditorium-sized undergraduate classes together and I admired the way Ron would get to know the professors. I was always too shy to do that. A few years later, Ron had the ear of the UT System Board of Regents when he led an effort to get UT to divest its tobacco holdings. He understood the incremental nature of social change and knew studied pragmatism would take his causes much further than a thousand holier-than-thou rants.

Many times over the course of our college years, Ron listened patiently to my inebriated, self-depreciating discourse on being perennially lovelorn. Deep down, I bet Ron knew the culprits of my condition were emotional immaturity coupled with abject fear of rejection, but he never blew me off with a blunt summation like that. On the contrary, his counsel was always offered with a great deal of both wit and affection. When you were talking with Ron, you were talking. The things he said stuck with you.

Even though we'd only been in touch sporadically in the post-graduate years, I always thought in the back of my mind that Ron and I would reconnect over beers one day and pick back up right where we left off. Days after hearing the news, I still can't fully believe I won't see him again, but I will always treasure memories of the times we had together. He is truly a friend for the ages.

Fave Five Food Deals - 3/31/10

It's the last round of Austin's best grocery deals for March and we're not going out like a lamb.

1. Strawberries, .99/lb. at Sprouts (through 4/7/10)

2. Blueberries, 4.4 oz containers, .87/ea. at Newflower (through 4/7/10)

3. Asparagus, $1.99/lb. at Central Market (through 4/6/10)*

4. Blue Bell Ice Cream half gallons, $3.79 at Randall's** (through 4/6/10)

5. Stacy's Pita Chips, 7.5-8 oz., $1.99 at Natural Grocers (through 5/15/10)

*Newflower is selling asparagus for $1.79 this week, but Central Market gets the nod in our book because their produce consistency justifies the extra 20 cents
**Remarkable Card price/limit 3

Drank Up, Kids

Here's an interestingly sad piece of trash I found several days ago down the street from the middling middle school across from our house.


There's a new canned drink in town called "Lean," which is branded to emulate the purple-hued mixture of Sprite along with codeine and promethazine-laden prescription cough syrup that first came to prominence as a lifestyle acoutrement in the chopped and screwed wing of Houston's hip hop scene. The mixture was implicated in the deaths of both DJ Screw and Pimp C.


The text on the side of the can makes it clear that Lean is being marketed to "sippers of all ages." I don't have an problem with adults using recreational drugs so long as they don't drive, steal or pee on my lawn, but selling this faux-syrup to kids is the worst kind of cynical bottom-feeding.

Moreover, one of the "pharmaceutical grade herbs" contained in Lean is valerian root, which I take in small quantities to go to sleep at night. Melatonin and rose hips are also included. If that's the kind of buzz kids are looking for these days, they'd be better off in the vitamins and supplements aisle.

Don't Count on Me!

Because of population growth during the past decade, Texas could gain four additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives once the 2010 Census is completed. However, only 27 percent of Texans have mailed in their census forms as of Friday. The national average is 34 percent. The response rate is even lower in several rural, traditionally conservative Texas counties, such as King (5 percent), Briscoe (8 percent) and Culberson (11 percent).

A handful of Republican representatives are blaming the low response on anti-Washington sentiments, which makes for delicious irony given the GOP's ongoing attempts to make political hay out of those sentiments. Suddenly, guys like Rep. Ted Poe (R-Humble) are acknowledging the "apparent intrusive nature" of the census on one hand while cajoling their constituents to mail in their census forms on the other.

"It's very important for people to fill out the census because of reapportionment and redistricting," Poe says, "and Texas stands to gain four seats."

In other words, pretending you're off the grid is fine so long as it doesn't squander my party's potential political capital.

Fave Five Food Deals - 3/24/10

Strap in and hold on tight, because we've got some Austin grocery deals that'll blow your mind - not your pocketbook.

1. Boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders, $1.67/lb. in the family pack at Newflower Farmer's Market (through 3/31/10)

2. Hass avocados, .49/ea at Sprouts (through 3/31/10)

3. 6 oz. blackberries, .88/ea at Sprouts (through 3/31/10)

4. 5 lb. bag of russet potatoes, $1 at H-E-B (through 3/30/10)

5. Dinner for Two, $9.99 at Central Market (through 3/30/10)*

*Check Central Market's daily Dinner for Two menu here.

One Month Old

Yes, we're celebrating our child's one-month birthday. I bought Alex a little treat from Hey Cupcake! this afternoon, but he's going to have to get it via breastmilk. After what his mom went through bringing him into the world, it's only fair for her to get dibbs on his birthday treats for awhile.

It's hard to believe it's already been a month. Life is very different than before he made the scene, but now I can't imagine life without him. Every time I look into those big blue eyes of his, I fall deeper in love.

True Colors Shining Through

Georgia Republican Rep. Paul Broun compared the health care reform bill to what most of us refer to as the Civil War on the House floor last night.

If Obamacare passes, that free insurance card that's in people's pockets is going to be as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the war between the states - the Great War of Yankee Aggression.



Yup, just another day at the office in White Whine Country.

Night Owl Nightmare

As I was taking my daily health walk around the Austin State Hospital periphery yesterday, I ran into Austin Chronicle transportation reporter and I Love Beer blogmaster Lee Nichols. He was waiting for a bus downtown for SXSW. In today’s episode, Lee recounts the awful time he had trying to get back to North Central Austin after closing time on Capital Metro’s overstuffed Night Owl bus.

Capital Metro seems to have a gift for screwing the pooch on special events. I tried to take their Austin City Limits Music Fest shuttle several years ago and wound up hoofing it from Zilker to Waterloo Park rather than keep waiting in a stationary, exhaust-choked queue. You’d think they’d recognize special events as an unique opportunity to attract new users and dispel long-held perceptions of unreliability, but Lee’s experience suggests it’s still not much of a priority for them.

Fave Five Food Deals - 3/17/10

The lettuce wars heat up again in this week's exciting overview of Austin's five best grocery deals.

1. Green or red leaf lettuce, .49/ea. at Sun Harvest (through 3/24/10)

2. Broccoli crowns, .77/ea. at H-E-B (through 3/23/10)

3. 10 lb. bag of Russet potatoes, $1.49 at H-E-B (through 3/23/10)

4. Blackberries, 5.6-oz. package, .98/ea. at Sun Harvest (through 3/24/10)

5. Wild Alaskan cod fillets, $3.97/lb. at Newflower (through 3/24/10)

And don't forget, Wednesday is double ad day at Sun Harvest, Newflower and Sprouts.

Pizza Box Affirmations

Kate and I picked up an extra large pizza from Arpeggio Grill on Airport Blvd. last Friday night. In the context of raising a newborn baby, this constitutes living it up.

I’ve always enjoyed Arpeggio Grill’s Mediterranean food, but it turns out their pizza is reasonably priced and quite tasty, too. We had the Arpeggio Pizza, which came stacked with pepperoni, sausage, red onions, black olives, Italian peppers and “extra cheese.” I put the latter in quotations since all of their pizzas come with extra cheese, which kind of muddles the notion of what constitutes “extra.” The 20-inch pie set us back $18.99. As a bonus, I got to carry it home in the artfully designed box pictured below.


“Delicious moments?” I think that’s the title of a Quiet Storm CD collection I once saw advertised on late night TV.

Fave Five Food Deals - 3/10/10

The spirit of St. Patrick is alive and well in this week's list of Austin's best grocery deals.

1. 5 lb. box of Cuties Mandarin oranges, $2.99 at Sprouts (through 3/17/10)

2. Rancher's Reserve boneless beef chuck pot roast, $1.88/lb.* at Randall's (through 3/16/10)

3. Strawberries, .99/lb. at Newflower (through 3/17/10)

4. Guinness Draft 4-packs, $4.99 at Central Market (through 3/16/10)

5. Safeway corned beef brisket, $1.99/lb.* at Randall's (through 3/16/10)

*You must present a Randall's Remarkable Card to get these prices. If you don't, they'll jack you like a hurricane price-gouger. I harbor considerable prejudice against stores that force you to use an affinity card to get their advertised price, but unlike most of Randall's "sale" prices, these two are hard to beat.

The Last Days of Texas Stadium

Texas Stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys until 2008, is slated for implosion just after dawn on April 11. The Dallas Morning News website has a bittersweet slideshow chronicling pre-demolition preparations, which includes filling the sunken football field and lower ring of seats with dirt to bring it up to ground level so they won't have to dig debris out of a hole.

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is sponsoring Texas Stadium's implosion as a launchpad for their new "Cheddar Explosion" flavor. Some lucky kid who wins Kraft's essay contest will get a free trip to Irving to mash the detonation button, which is almost as good as having Willy Wonka give you a chocolate factory.

Skipping the Party

For the first time in over 20 years, I'm sitting out SXSW. It already feels weird to not be in the throes of a pre-SXSW scrawl, but new parenthood is still too all-consuming to cover the fest in any meaningful way. Last call and 4 a.m. crying jags just don't mix.

That said, I'm hoping to at least make it out to a day party or two. And even though I'm missing the big show this year, a few noteworthy acts are bound to make an appearance right here at the ol' homestead, including snappily-dressed Dallas alterna-rockers the Moro Reflex, fearsome Oslo black metal/prog-rock hybrid Engorgement and regressive Athens, Ga. twee-pop trio Pees and Poos.

Fave Five Food Deals - 3/3/10

Just in time for double ad Wednesday*, here are Austin's best grocery deals for the week.

1. Brown Cow Yogurt Cups, .59 ea. at Natural Grocers (through 3/27/10)

2. Strawberries, $1.50/lb. at H-E-B (through 3/9/10)

3. Broccoli crowns, .67/lb. at H-E-B (through 3/9/10)

4. Haas avocados, .69 ea. at Sprouts (through 3/10/10)

5. Texas Gulf shrimp (26/30 ct.), $3.97/lb. at Newflower (through 3/10/10)

*at Sprouts, Newflower and Sun Harvest

Fave Five Food Deals - 2/25/10

Neither rain, sleet, snow nor the birth of my first child can stop the week's best grocery deals.

1. Romaine, green and red leaf lettuce, 2 for $1 at Sun Harvest (through 3/3/10)

2. Asparagus, .77/lb. at Newflower (through 3/3/10)

3. 64 oz. orange juice, $1.99 at Newflower (though 3/3/10)

4. Central Market Veggie Chips, 3 for $5 at H-E-B (through 3/2/10)

5. Sprouts organic milk, $3.99/gal. at Sprouts (through 3/3/10)

*no artificial ingredients or preservatives

Also, be sure to pick up an H-E-B circular this week to get a coupon for $1 off a gallon of milk (including Central Market Organics brand). And don't forget Sun Harvest's 48-hour sale on Thursday and Friday only. Featured sale prices include pineapples for 88 cents each and Blue Bell Ice Cream pints for just a buck, so stock up.

Kate's Baby Story

Kate posted her thoughts on the birth of our child on Lone Star Kate today. I didn't say too much about it in my last post because I figured the birth itself was primarily her story, not mine.

I will say that watching her labor gave me a whole new understanding of what a strong, courageous woman my wife is. Simply put, she did great and it blew my mind.

Alexander Harrington Beets

Alexander Harrington Beets was born Friday, Feb. 19 at 11:34pm. He weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces at birth and Kate labored for about 17 hours to bring him into the world. Mother and son were released from the hospital yesterday. My dad took our first family photo (above) shortly before they were sprung.

Now we're all back home and learning to live as a three-piece. Everything looks just like it did when Kate and I left for the hospital, but we might as well be on another planet for how much everything has changed. It still hasn't completely sunk in that this beautiful, blond-headed boy who just turned 72 hours old a few minutes ago is really ours.

Before he was born, I had no way of knowing if the bond all my parent friends kept telling me about would happen. But there I was, gently rocking him in the hospital nursery at 2am while the radio played "Dance With Me" by Orleans, knowing there was no place else I'd rather be than right there at that moment.

Domestic Terrorism, North Austin Style

We had a real-live domestic terrorist incident about a mile up the road from our house this morning. Some nutjob named Joe Stack set his North Austin house on fire, took off in his single-engine plane from the Georgetown airport and crashed it into the 4-story Echelon I Building on Research Blvd. that houses an IRS field office. Stack died in the crash and one IRS employee is still unaccounted for. Two others were critically injured.

The authorities have shied away from using the T-word here, which seems a bit odd. I'm confused as to how a guy who leaves a manifesto before flying a plane into a building with federal offices would be considered anything else. I guess maybe you could say it wasn't terrorism because Stack apparently acted alone, but there's no way anyone would hedge on this if he wasn't white and/or American.

In reading the 53-year-old Stack's adolescent "manifesto," I'm struck by the fact that he takes absolutely no responsibility for anything that befell him. It's always the government or corporations or unions or the Catholic church or stupid Americans or this town with a "highly inflated sense of self-importance" that he voluntarily migrated to from California, but never his own boneheaded choices. Stack envisioned himself a rugged, self-made patriot under attack by The Man and I can only assume we're supposed to buy that because he ran his very own software company and didn't like paying taxes.

Whatever valid points he makes about creeping corporatism and the rich getting richer are quickly subsumed by his morass of narcissistic paranoia. I find this grossly disproportionate sense of woe-is-me entitlement emblematic of a certain subspecies of angry white men in this country. They liken paying taxes to anal rape but have no problem calling 911 when they have chest pains. They expect something for nothing and throw toddler tantrums when they can't get it ("Keep your government hands off my Medicare!").

Looking at the building, it's nothing short of miraculous that more people were not killed or injured. To that, I say hats off to the taxpayer-funded civil servants who helped mitigate the despicable actions of a self-aggrandizing tool.

Fave Five Food Deals - 2/18/10

If you’re in the mood to drink beer while stir-frying your dinner, the gods of Austin grocery deals are smiling on you this week. Be sure to pick up some Texas-grown grapefruit for breakfast while you’re at it.

1. Broccoli crowns or red and yellow bell peppers 69/lb. at Sprouts (through 2/24/10)

2. All natural* chicken breast tenders, $1.69/lb. at Sprouts (through 2/24/10)

3. Texas jumbo Gulf shrimp, $3.97/lb. (26-30 ct.) at Newflower (through 2/24/10)

4. Six-packs of Anchor beers (Steam, Liberty or Porter), $6.99 at Central Market (through 2/23/10)

5. Texas Rio Red Grapefruit, 10 for $1 at Newflower (through 2/24/10)

*no artificial ingredients or preservatives

More Beets Please

No, that isn't an entreaty to the Great Beyond to expedite birthing. It's actually the title of my Uncle Mark's latest EP, which just nabbed him a nomination for Male Vocalist of the Year in the Academy of Texas Music's 8th annual Texas Music Awards. Past TMA winners include Lone Star stalwarts like Michael Martin Murphey, Shake Russell, Lloyd Maines and Johnny Gimble.

This year's winners will be announced May 15 at the 2010 awards show in Marshall, which will be hosted by B.J. Thomas. Public voting accounts for 10% of the award, so check out Mark's music here and cast a vote here before March 5 if you're so inclined.

Congratulations, Uncle Mark!

"No Baby Yet!"

If I had a dollar for every time I uttered the above phrase today, I'd have the belated little buckaroo's college tuition locked up by now.

It's weird how a "due date" goes to work on your expectations even when you know it's not perfectly predictive. Although Kate and I weren't counting on him arriving today, I was using it as a benchmark date to make sure certain tasks were either completed or at least well in hand.

I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now. I don't feel like diving into anything I can't finish quickly because I might have to abandon it before getting any real work done. Of course, there's never a "good" time to do your taxes.

A Weekend in Waiting

Our baby boy's Feb. 16 due date is fast approaching. More than a few friends have said they have a feeling he will be born early. That could very well be the case if he takes after Kate. If he takes after me, he'll probably arrive late, but not too late.

Regardless, I've been treating the last few days as though he'll show up this weekend just to make sure the critical tasks are well in hand if Kate suddenly says it's time to go to the hospital. Some part of me thinks the thing to do in the final days of pre-fatherhood is to gorge on garbage food, see a lot of violent and/or sexually gratuitous movies and cram in as many domestic beer-drenched rock shows as I can.

But then I look at the yard or the shower stall and realize our soon-to-be harried home life will be marginally less harried if I get those things into some semblance of shape before the baby comes. I've never been much for housekeeping, but when I think about not being able to readily devote a large chunk of time to it for months and months, it makes me want to try and start off with as clean a slate as possible.

Fave Five Food Deals - 2/11/10

Welcome to another edition of Fave Five Food Deals. Kick your shoes off and sidle on over for the week's best deals in Austin groceries.

1. Romaine, red leaf or green leaf lettuce, .69/ea. at Sprouts (through 2/17/10)

2. Harris Ranch all natural* 85% lean ground beef, $1.57/lb. at Newflower (through 2/17/10)

3. 6 oz. blueberries, $1.50 at Sun Harvest (through 2/17/10)

4. 1 pint grape tomatoes, $1.50 at Sprouts (through 2/17/10)

5. 4 oz. Canadian lobster tails, $4.99/ea. at Central Market (through 2/16/10)

*no artificial ingredients or preservatives

Patty Melts for Two

If you’re short on change for Valentine’s Day, Whataburger has a deal for you and yours. Dine in between 5 and 10pm on Sunday, Feb. 14 and they’ll give you a free Patty Melt Whatameal when you buy one.

This may not sound like the most romantic dinner on first reading, but if you bring your own tablecloth, silverware, candelabra, vase, flowers and smooth saxophone solo, you can easily create a pitch-perfect homage to John Cusack in Better Off Dead. Remember, it’s the thought that counts.

Sadly, this offer does not apply to lonely hearts with an appetite – two people must be present when ordering. However, there’s no law stopping you from soliciting an expedient “Patty Melt Partner” in the parking lot.

Who knows? Maybe he or she will be the one you’ve been looking for all along.

Denny's Gives It Away

Denny's is giving away a bunch of food these days. Next Tuesday between 6am and 2pm, you can get a free Original Grand Slam Breakfast just for showing up. Expect a crowd since Denny's is running ads to promote this during the Super Bowl on Sunday. Last year's free Grand Slam promotion drew 2 million people.

If you don't have all day, you can still get a coupon for a free burger and fries if you're one of the first 500,000 people who sign up for the new Denny's Rewards program before Feb. 14. Other than possibly getting a bunch of e-mail you'll have to delete, this one looks pretty painless.

Starting Feb. 10, Denny's puts the smackdown on IHOP by providing free refills on any order of pancakes or fries. I always thought IHOP's $4.99 endless pancake promotion was a rip-off because I can't eat that many pancakes, but I can put away plenty of fries. And I will. Just please don't tell my wife.

Best of all, you can get a free Grand Slam breakfast on your birthday. That's not quite as good as the old free birthday meal deal, but I'm not one to argue with the fickle mistress that is Free.

Fave Five Food Deals - 2/4/10

Welcome to the pre-Super Bowl edition of Fave Five Food Deals. Not surprisingly, this week's boffo Austin grocery deals include lots of party foods. Parties are okay, but is there really a better friend out there than having a family-sized tub of homemade guacamole all to yourself?

1. All natural* pork sausage, $1.97/lb. at Newflower through 2/10/10

2. River Ranches all natural** ground beef, $3.99/lb at Natural Grocers through 2/27/10

3. Haas avocados and/or Roma tomatoes, .39/lb. at Newflower through 2/10/10

4. 1 lb. bag of peeled baby carrots, .99 at Sun Harvest through 2/10/10

5. All beer at Central Market, 20% off through 2/9/10

*In Deal #1, "all natural" means no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

**In Deal #2, "all natural" means grass-fed, pasture-raised, no antibiotics, no chemical pesticides or artificial hormones and no animal by-products (other than the beef, I guess).

Kate at 38 Weeks

Kate and I are now less than two weeks away from the due date of our baby boy and the dawn of our new lives as parental units. I took this belly shot of Kate on Monday night. I think he's gotten bigger just since then.

Twenty Tinnitus' Trivial Triumph

Despite heated competition from the Austin City Limits team, the Chron's Twenty Tinnitus team eked out a one-point victory in last night's Mind Over Music trivia smackdown.

Every person on our team was able to nail down answers that eluded the rest of us. I wasn't entirely sure whether to be proud or embarrassed about having the lyrics to Charlene's "I've Never Been to Me" etched in the mindspace that should've been reserved for long division, but a win is a win, baby!

Mind Over Music

Finally, I have a chance to put decades of wasting brain cells on music-related mental minutiae toward something worthwhile.

Mind Over Music: The Austin Underground Music Trivia Smackdown happens at 7pm tomorrow at the Palm Door, located at 401 E. Sabine. I'll be rubbing wits with the Austin Chronicle's "Twenty Tinnitus" team, one of about 25 teams looking to achieve local music trivia supremacy.

Although there's no room for more teams, you can pay $10 to sit in the peanut gallery and heckle. All proceeds benefit Grounded in Music, a local non-profit providing music programs to kids who otherwise couldn't afford them.

UT Cuts the Cactus Cafe

In a classic weekend news dump reminiscent of Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre," UT's Texas Union Board of Directors announced that it is shutting down both the Cactus Cafe and Informal Classes program in August due to budget cuts.

The Cactus is a nationally renowned listening room that helped launch and sustain the careers of everyone from Lyle Lovett to Townes Van Zandt to Peter Case. The venue's reputation is due in large part to manager Griff Luneburg, who has run the place for almost 30 years. Clubs open and close, but you can't replace a room like the Cactus.

Although the Cactus is primarily known for presenting singer/songwriters, my pal Jonathan Toubin once somehow convinced Griff to book our old band Cheezus there on a Saturday night in 1991. We wore turtlenecks, drew black Sharpie goatees on our faces and made as much contrarian racket as we could. I thought it was pretty cool that Griff made room for an obnoxious, unpracticed punk band on his stage. I don't even think he complained about all the thrown cheese products.

Losing the Informal Classes program will also be a major blow. If it wasn't for their cost-effective adult education offerings, I wouldn't know how to half-ass my way through Adobe InDesign or a Texas Two-Step.

UT says the Cactus and Informal Classes had not been self-sufficient in recent years. Moreover, neither entity drew large numbers of UT students. According to Texas Union executive director Andy Smith, cutting the Cactus Cafe and Informal Classes will save about $122,000 annually.

Virtually every UT student forks over a fee to the Texas Union every semester, so I can understand why the board would want to make sure that budget cuts - which are a reality at all state agencies right now - don't impact the union's core functions for enrolled students.

Even so, shuttering these two venerable institutions will likely prove to be one of UT's historic blunders. It's a short-term budgetary bandage that will have a long tail in the form of more alums not giving and more Austinites not having any connection whatsoever with the burnt orange monolith in their midst.

The S from Hell!

Seeing and hearing the 1964 Screen Gems logo with its proto-synth score by Eric Siday takes me right back to the earliest days of my lifelong affair with television. Somehow, the logo evokes way more nostalgia than the TV shows that preceded it. Perhaps the logo's incidental, effervescent nature makes it feel like a more authentic totem to my lost childhood.

Sadly, not all of my generational contemporaries remember the Screen Gems logo with such fondness. In fact, some are downright terrified by it. Brave filmmaker Rodney Ascher chronicles the horror in his short documentary, The S From Hell.

Fave Five Food Deals - 1/28/09

Read all about the best grocery deals in Austin and discover why the coming week is likely to have our town awash in waves of funny-smelling urine.

1. Asparagus, .97/lb. at Sun Harvest and .99/lb. at Sprouts (through 2/3/10)

2. Texas small red grapefruit, 10 for $1 at H-E-B (through 2/2/10)

3. Harris Ranch all natural top round roast, $2.99/lb. at Newflower (through 2/3/10)

4. Roasted chicken, $3.99/ea. at Sprouts (through 2/3/10)

5. Brooklyn beers (6-pack), including Brooklyn Lager, Brown Ale, Pennant Ale and East India Pale Ale, $6.99/ea. at Central Market

Pazz and Jop '09

The 2009 Pazz and Jop critics poll came out in last week’s Village Voice. I was one of about five bajillion music writers from around the country who submitted ballots. I’m always interested to see how my picks stack up against the critical consensus.

Here are the top 10 albums in the 2009 Pazz and Jop poll:

1. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion
2. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Neko Case, Middle Cyclone
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!
5. Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
6. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
7. The xx, xx
8. Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Part II
9. The Flaming Lips, Embryonic
10.Girls, Album

And here are the top 10 albums I submitted, along with their placement in the overall poll:

1. Girls, Album (10)
2. Heavy Trash, Midnight Soul Serenade (1,431)
3. Rainy Day Saints, Reflected (1,145)
4. Yo La Tengo, Popular Songs (40)
5. Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca (5)
6. Tinariwen, Imidiwan: Companions (59)
7. Neon Indian, Psychic Chasms (110)
8. Pissed Jeans, King of Jeans (54)
9. Love Me Nots, Upsidedown Insideout (1,011)
10. Strange Boys, The Strange Boys and Girls Club (566)

Here are the top 10 singles in the 2009 Pazz and Jop poll:

1. Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”
2. Phoenix, “1901”
3. Animal Collective, “My Girls”
4. Grizzly Bear, “Two Weeks”
5. Dirty Projectors, “Stillness is the Move”
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Zero”
7. Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”
8. Girls, “Lust for Life”
9. Phoenix, “Lisztomania”
10. Taylor Swift, “You Belong with Me”

And here are mine:

1. Girls, “Lust for Life” (8)
2. Wilco, “You Never Know” (181)
3. Neon Indian, “Deadbeat Summer” (119)
4. Chalie Boy, “I Look Good” (751)
5. Phoenix, “1901” (2)
6. Dirty Projectors, “Stillness is the Move” (6)
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Zero” (7)
8. Dorrough, “Ice Cream Paint Job” (1,649)
9. Snoop Dogg, “I Wanna Rock” (252)
10. The Drums, “Let’s Go Surfing” (113)

For albums, I was the only person who mentioned the Love Me Nots, Rainy Day Saints and Heavy Trash. I’m somewhat baffled that the latter didn’t get more traction, what with Jon Spencer and all. It’s also interesting that despite my ranking and an equal assignation of 10 points for all of my albums, Heavy Trash finished lower in the overall rankings than my other solitary picks. Given my own inability to balance a checkbook or calculate a tip, I think I will refrain from snarking off about that.

As for singles, I’ve always had an embarrassingly major soft spot for really obnoxious regional rap radio hits, as previous-year picks like the GS Boys’ “Stanky Legg” (2008) and D4L’s “Laffy Taffy” (2006) can attest. In fact, if any rap artist cuts a hit song called “Peenie Weenie” over the next 11 months, I can pretty much guarantee it’ll wind up on my 2010 ballot.

Hitler Blows Top Over Mass. Senate Race

Boy, I haven't seen Hitler this angry since the Cowboys lost to the Giants in the NFC divisional playoffs back in '07.

Ebert on the Loss of Dining

Film critic Roger Ebert can no longer eat, drink or speak due to complications from thyroid cancer. He discusses his predicament with typical wit and eloquence in a blog entry from earlier this month. Interestingly, it's the dining, not the food, that he misses most.

Isn't it sad to be unable eat or drink? Not as sad as you might imagine. I save an enormous amount of time. I have control of my weight. Everything agrees with me. And so on.

What I miss is the society. Lunch and dinner are the two occasions when we most easily meet with friends and family. They're the first way we experience places far from home. Where we sit to regard the passing parade. How we learn indirectly of other cultures. When we feel good together. Meals are when we get a lot of our talking done -- probably most of our recreational talking. That's what I miss.

I don't think you can read this without getting a lump in your throat while cataloging the great meals of your life and being thankful for every last one of them.

As Warren Zevon once reminded us, "...enjoy every sandwich."

Torchy's Takes Over Wok-N-Roll

Torchy's Tacos, one of the early instigators of our local trailer food revolution, is opening a new (stationary) location on Burnet Rd. in the space formerly occupied by Wok-N-Roll. I'm looking forward to getting my workaday Trailer Park/Dirty Sanchez fix sated without having to drive all the way to campus.

I used to eat at Wok-N-Roll quite a bit. Their food was quick, cheap and relatively good. I took pride in having a greasy, yellowed 1995 fast food review I wrote for the Chron posted to their wall. Unfortunately, I noticed a gradual but steady decline in their food beginning around 2002. By 2005, I just couldn't stomach Wok-N-Roll anymore - and that's really saying something.

Fave Five Food Deals - 1/21/10

By the power vested in me by the commonwealth of cheapness, here are Austin's best grocery store deals for the week:

1. Broccoli crowns .77/lb. at Sprouts and Sun Harvest (through 1/27/10)

2. Chicken breasts (bone-in), beef back ribs, country-style pork ribs, pork steaks, free range whole turkey and/or 5 oz. stuffed clams 10 lbs. for $10 at Sprouts (through 1/27/10)

3. Organic green leaf or red leaf lettuce .77/ea. at Sun Harvest (through 1/27/10)

4. Organic Braeburn or Gala apples at Central Market .99/lb. (through 1/26/10)

5. Asparagus $1.77/lb. at Newflower (through 1/27/10)

And be sure to grab this week's Sprouts circular for the Great Hills location. It contains coupons for a free 16 oz. bag of tropical yogurt pretzels and a free 1.4 oz. Cascade Fresh probiotic bar (expires 2/4/10). I don't even know what the hell a probiotic bar does to my innards, but if it's free, chances are I'll chew it up and swallow.

Paciugo May Give Austin Another Lick

Dallas-based Paciugo Gelato and Caffè has announced plans to open 100 new franchise locations in the next year, including at least one in Austin to replace their shuttered 2nd St. store.

Paciugo was one of the few spots in the Second Street District I could afford to frequent even if it wasn't a special occasion. Moreover, their gelato was the best stuff I’ve tasted outside of Italy. Perhaps a new, slightly more accessible location will improve the chain’s local fortunes next time.

Fave Five Food Deals - 1/14/10

Keep a little change in your pocket for the weekend with the week's best Austin grocery deals:

1. Bunched broccoli or Roma tomatoes .69/lb. at Newflower (through 1/20/10)

2. Boneless skinless chicken thighs $1.49/lb. at Sprouts (through 1/20/10)

3. 1 lb. bag of organic peeled baby carrots .99 at Sun Harvest (through 1/20/10)

4. Cameo apples .67/lb. at H-E-B (through 1/19/10)

5. 1 pint of grape tomatoes .99 at Sprouts (through 1/20/10)

Also, for all our gluten-free friends, Sprouts is holding its "Gluten-Free Jubilee" this week. Get 25% off all tagged gluten-free grocery and frozen food items along with select items in other departments through January 20.

Tufts Attempts to Rescue the Sexiled

Don't even think about hanging a sock on the door at Tufts University. Following an uptick in complaints from sexiled roomies, the Medford, Mass. institution has banned sex in campus dorm rooms when a roommate is present.

Call me old-fashioned, but it seems awfully nannyish for a university to enact such a reactionary, far-reaching policy. If one of my dormmates was in flagrante, I either found someplace else to go or put a pillow over my head. A c-block would've been downright unbromanly, especially when my own bouts of alcohol-fueled stupidity were every bit as disruptive as whatever furtive groping took place on the other side of the room.

It is difficult for me to fathom the apparent trauma that writer (and Tufts alum) J. Bruce Daley inflicted upon his roommate by having sex in his presence.

"I will never forget the look on my roommate's face the next morning," Daley regretfully recounts. "I could see that he felt is privacy had been violated...He transferred schools after our freshman year and has spent the rest of his life living in Asia."

Asia? Dude, you could've just gone to the study lounge!

Of course, I never had to share a room with a steady couple that copulated like jackrabbits at all hours. I can see how that would become a problem requiring intervention from residential advisors, but if two ostensibly adult roommates can't work it out amongst themselves, why should dorm sex be handled differently than any other untenable living situation?

Fave Five Food Deals - 1/7/10

From our intrepid team of deal-hunters to your family's dining table, here are the best grocery deals in Austin for the week:

1. Large navel oranges .19/lb. at Sprouts (through 1/13/10)

2. Natural boneless skinless chicken breasts $1.77/lb. at Sprouts (through 1/13/10)

3. Light Mini Babybel cheese rounds or Laughing Cow cheese wedges 2 for $6 at Sprouts (through 1/13/10)

4. Bartlett pears .67/lb. at H-E-B (through 1/12/10)

5. Roasted almonds $2.99/lb. at Sprouts (through 1/13/10)

Frugal Austin shoppers are probably familiar with Sun Harvest's "Double Ad Wednesdays," which enables you to avail yourself of deals in both the previous and current weekly circulars. Well, it turns out Sprouts and Newflower offer the same promotion. By shopping on Hump Day, you maximize the number of sale items you can potentially buy, thus reducing the chance of impulsively picking up something at a price point surpassing that of Whole Foods.

Count Five

Today is Beetsolonely’s 5-year anniversary. To celebrate, I’ve decided to revert to all-caps headlines. That’s all the rebranding I’m up for right now.

Occasionally I wonder if this here blog needs more focus. Perhaps it would make sense to define a niche and work to fill it. Maybe I’ll do that one day, but a large part of why I enjoy blogging is being able to write about whatever happens to pop into my head.

So unless I hear the elusive “true calling” that would enable me to monetize a singular bloggerly pursuit I’m passionate about, the rambling mélange of musings on life in Austin, obscure pop culture curiosities, impending parenthood and where to find a good deal on potatoes will continue unabated.

New Year's Day, Dallas, 1973

From Robert Wilonsky at the Dallas Observer's Unfair Park blog via Dallas radio know-it-all George Gimarc, here's a six-minute snippet of a January 1, 1973 aircheck tape from Dallas progressive rock station KAFM.

The DJ on duty epitomizes the laid-back prog attitude mocked by Bill Murray's "Mel Brewer" character on the 1975 National Lampoon album, Goodbye Pop. A little Boz Scaggs, something obscure from a cat named Jack Schnectman and a spot for the upcoming Traffic/Free concert at Tarrant County Convention Center makes this a super-mellow New Year's Day come-down.

Fave five food deals - 12/31/09

Here's your last chance of the year to savor the savings. Austin's top five grocery deals follow:

1. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, 5 lbs. for $5 at H-E-B (through 1/5/10)

2. Red leaf, green leaf or Romaine lettuce .88 at Sun Harvest (through 1/4/10)

3. Blackberries in 5.6 oz. package .67 at H-E-B (though 1/5/10)

4. Peeled baby carrots in 1 lb. bag .88 at Sun Harvest (through 1/4/10)

5. All natural assorted pork loin chops $1.27/lb. at Newflower (through 1/6/10)

Also, if you're living in North Austin, check your mail for the circular promoting the grand opening of Sprouts' Great Hills Trail location on January 8. The circular contains a coupon for a free 64 oz. bottle of Langers Everyday Fruit Juice and a coupon for a free Green & Black's Organic Chocolate Bar. No purchase is necessary, but the coupon expires January 24.

Detroit throws year-end fire sale

If you’re in the market for a cheap American car nobody else wants to drive, see your Saturn and Pontiac dealers now while you still can. I normally wouldn’t consider buying a brand that’s being phased out, but if you buy a new car for under $10K and keep it running without major repairs for three years, that’s not too shabby. With GM’s new deep discounts, the MSRP for the Pontiac G3 hatchback has fallen to $7,335.

Of course, reliability is not the strong suit of these particular makes. In fact, I can’t think of a strong suit for these makes other than a rock-bottom price point, so a little research would definitely be in order.

Beaumont's Rapping Weatherman

If you're a local TV station in a market that has been slammed by two major hurricanes within the past five years, you need a weatherman viewers can trust.

Just as tornado-prone Oklahoma City has Gary England, Beaumont/Port Arthur's KBTV now has Nick Kosir, a.k.a. the Rapping Weatherman. Pimp C would be proud.

Now let's drop some "Titan Dopp" on this bitch, shall we?

Fave five food deals on hiatus

Fave Five Food Deals is taking a break this week because none of our local grocery stores send out circulars two days before Christmas. We are, however, excited to report that the Great Hills Trail location of Sprouts Farmers Market is scheduled to open its doors on Friday, January 8.

I made a reconnaissance run to the Sprouts in Rollingwood a couple weeks back and was moderately impressed. As is the case with Sun Harvest, you really have to follow the sales to get the deals because Sprouts' regular prices aren't all that earth-shattering. That said, it's a much nicer store than Sun Harvest with particularly superior offerings in the realm of meat and deli.

Frankly, I've always been a bit skeeved out by the meat counter at Sun Harvest on Anderson. It just doesn't smell right back there.

Time Warner shows the love

If you’re a Time Warner Cable subscriber in Austin, you probably know they’re in down-to-the-wire carriage negotiations with KTBC, the local Fox station. If the two multinational media conglomerates fail to reach an agreement by 11:59pm on Dec. 31, Time Warner will yank Fox from its channel line-up. Last time this happened, we went without NBC for nearly a month.

This morning I got an e-mail from Time Warner Cable thanking me for being their customer. There was no mention of the dispute with Fox, but one might figure a company on the precipice of angering and inconveniencing its customers would try to incentivize not fleeing in disgust to the competition. Here’s what the synergy-minded marketing team at Time Warner Cable came up with:

THANK YOU

For being a Time Warner Cable customer!
Enjoy this exclusive Time Warner Cable coupon - $3.00 discount off the purchase of a Six Flags Sport Bottle.

Your 2010 Six Flags Sport Bottle comes with
-FREE refills all day, same day of purchase
-Refills only 99¢ for the entire 2010 season

Print and redeem this coupon at one of the following Six Flags locations:
-Six Flags over Texas, Arlington, TX – All American Café
-Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio, TX – Mockingbird Funnel Cakes

Now that’s what I call shitting in my mouth and calling it a sundae! So sorry about not being able to renegotiate our carriage agreement with the local Fox station in time for you to be sure you’ll get to see bowl games on New Year’s Day, but here’s a coupon for $3 off a $13 plastic bottle we paid the Chinese 25 cents to manufacture.

Of course, you’ll still have to pay between $30 and $50 to get in to one of our amusement parks to take advantage of this deal, but once you’re there, we’ll give you free high fructose corn water for one whole day. If you can possibly stomach return visits, we’ll fill your faded, dog-eared cup with more sickly sweet corn drink for only 99 cents. By the way, this offer expires on Feb. 16, so don’t show up in August thinking you’re going to squeeze us for a day of free pop when it’s 300 degrees outside.

Time Warner, in exchange for this extraordinary gesture of corporate goodwill, I would like to invite you to suck an endless parade of left ones this holiday season.

Last chance for Evita's Botanitas

From the South Austin desk, my drumming buddy Lance Farley reports that Evita’s Botanitas will be closing on Monday, Dec. 28. This longtime neighborhood Tex-Mex eatery opened in 1990 on N. Lamar in the space now occupied by El Caribe. They moved to their current location on S. 1st several years ago.

Evita’s is best known for the two-tier tower of salsa, generous combination plates and some of the best chicken mole around. If you don’t believe me, just ask roots-rock legend Dave Alvin.

According to Evita’s website, the Rodriguez family was looking to sell the restaurant due to patriarch Ruben Rodriguez’ battle with brain cancer. However, Lance – a frequent diner who swears by Evita’s flautas – says their lease is up and the family has no plans to reopen. So get it while you can.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post had Evita's last night as Saturday, Dec. 19.

Fave five food deals - 12/17/09

Here are Beetsolonely's fave five Austin area food deals for the week, as selected by the indentured seamstresses of world-renowned fashion designer Ragghi Bouchaine:

1. Russet potatoes, 10 lb. bag for 59 CENTS (stop - chowder time!) at Sun Harvest (through 12/24)

2. Fresh Gulf shrimp, $7.99/lb. (21/25 ct.) at Central Market (through 12/24)

3. 1 lb. strawberries, 2 for $3 at H-E-B (through 12/24)

4. 12-pack Coca-Cola fridge packs, 3 for $6.99 at Randall's with their stupid club card (through 12/25)

5. Green beans .77/lb at Newflower (through 12/23)

Depressed Christmas

On Thursday, John Seaborn Gray listed his picks for most depressing Christmas songs of all time on the Houston Press music blog. Sure, John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison” is pretty grim, but Gray overlooked the yuletide suicide note right in his own backyard.

Culturcide’s “Depressed Christmas” was the B-side of the experimental Houston group’s 1987 single, “Santa Claus Was My Lover.” I played it just now and Kate offered the following succinct assessment:

“It woke me up from my nap in a very unpleasant way. Make it stop!”

Fave five food deals - 12/10/09

Here are this week's top five grocery circular deals as selected by our psychologically unbalanced cadre of bargain-hunting vigilantes:

1. Blue Bell Ice Cream half gallons 2 for $7 @ Sun Harvest (through 12/13)

2. Cantaloupes .25/lb. @ Sun Harvest (through 12/16)

3. H-E-B Club Soda and Ginger Ale 2 for $1 @ H-E-B (through 12/15)

4. Natural boneless skinless chicken breasts $1.77/lb. @ Newflower (through 12/16)

5. Cuties Clementines, 2 lb. bag 1.97 @ Newflower (through 12/16)

…and one to grow on:

Sutter Home wine, 750 mL bottles, assorted varieties $3 at Sun Harvest (through 12/13). Sorry, 12-bottle limit!

The ugliest buildings in Houston

Last week, the Houston Press Hairballs blog picked the city's top eight ugliest buildings. I have to agree with the new Federal Reserve fortress (post-9/11 design at its most neurotic) on Allen Parkway and that anorexic condo tower overlooking the Southwest Freeway.

It's a bit unfair to include the windowless AT&T bunker on Weslayan because it's a functional edifice designed to house equipment, not humans. And while the George R. Brown Convention Center is undoubtedly atrocious and dated, at least it's not breadbox boring.

Also check out John Lomax's slideshow on the 10 ugliest buildings in downtown Houston from last year. I agree with a lot of his picks, though not his assessment of the Alley Theater. Even though I'm not particularly drawn to Brutalism, I've always thought the Alley was kind of cool. All it really needs is a good power-washing.

Photo by Imelda

White Denim plunders Wolfgang's Vault

The extraordinary streaming concert archive Wolfgang's Vault enlisted Austin's own White Denim to pick a 13-song playlist this week. I'm not surprised to hear them lead off with the MC5's rare 1970 rendition of James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." The eclectic mix also includes cuts from the likes of Al Kooper, Gentle Giant, the Mothers of Invention, Delaney & Bonnie and George Duke. Listen here.

Fave five food deals - 12/3/09

After an hours-long analysis of this week's grocery circulars, here are my fave five food deals in Austin:

1. Large Texas grapefruit .79/lb at Central Market (through 12/8/09)
2. Crystal Geyser 1.25 liter sparkling mineral water .79/each at Natural Grocers (through 1/2/10)
3. Hass avocados - 4 for $1 at Sun Harvest (through 12/9/09)
4. Blackberries - 2 pints for $3 at Sun Harvest (through 12/9/09)
5. 10 lb. bag of Seasons Select Russet potatoes - $1.97 at H-E-B (through 12/8/09)

Also, starting Dec. 4, Central Market will give away a free Wüsthof knife and scissor set with a purchase of $50 or more. Kate and I got a similar set a few years back and it has served us quite well.